EASTCHESTER, N.Y. – After taking on all comers in his own state, Eastchester Middle School student Matthew DeMarco faced the best in the country, finishing among the top performers in the nation at the National History Bee.

In early June, DeMarco took the long trip south to Atlanta to compete in the national finals of the annual bee. After five preliminary rounds, DeMarco was ranked in the top 20 in a field of more than 600 students, and he finished among the top 6 percent of the competitors.

The eighth-grader enjoyed a long journey to earn his berth in the national final. Earlier in 2014, he scored 100 percent on the online regional qualifying exam, which permitted him to enter the regional final last month, where he was tops in the tri-state area.

This isn’t the first National History Bee final for DeMarco, who also qualified for the event in 2013. If he had won the bee, he would have been eligible for a $5,000 scholarship.